SONG RELEASE STORY
May 27, 2022
Birthday parties. Running through playgrounds. Sleepovers. I drew the Six of Cups and wrote this card's song over Labor Day weekend 2021, on Sunday, September 5. A simple melody came to mind, using fingerstyle guitar via my software program. The technology has come a long way, and it impressed me that I could generate these other instruments with my keyboard as the control. For A Daydream of Childhood / Six of Cups, digital guitar is the backdrop of the musical canvas.
The notes walk up and down mindfully in the left hand melody as a reference to the song "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King, featured in the 1986 film of the same name, one of the main movies of my childhood. My sister, cousins, and I would take turns "being" the characters in the movie. Who did they make me play - Vern? It never made sense why we had to "be" these characters, but to our growing young minds, this was the way to have fun.
Another chord progression in one of my favorite keys, the notes in A Daydream of Childhood / Six of Cups hang out in B major for the verses and then switch to C# minor. I play a few jazz-inspired notes in the chorus. Childhood memories, to me, don't walk a straight line. They meander onto the black keys and then back again to the white. The final chorus moves to C# major - lifting the spirit from eerie minor to cheery major.
My producer Brian took his time with this song, making sure the rhythm settled perfectly into place, ensuring the cymbal swells hit at precisely the right moment and the kick and snare drums drove the melodies forward with depth and direction. We are both proud of the outcome - a gorgeous sound to get lost within, wearing your metaphorical Walkman, and travel back in time for a bit. But just like the Six of Cups warns, remember that nostalgia should be limited, or you could get stuck living in the past.